This closing session will be a space for reflection and feedback. We can discuss ways we can share what we’ve learned and explored with our wider communities. We can talk about if we want to do more sessions and /or projects together.

We’ll look more at psycho-emotional health – exploring experiences as opposed to diagnoses. And exploring collective care and collective healing.

We’ll be looking at reframing trauma, how we might understand trauma in the bodymindsoul, taking a look at the physiology of trauma, forms of trauma, and at ways to mitigate and heal trauma.

We’ll be looking at decolonising ‘global mental health’. We’ll look at the concepts of decoloniality, of things being ‘culture bound’, and at hermeneutical injustice* as ways to examine dominator knowledge systems, and the institution of psych/iatry.

We’ll look at the language and politics of what gets ‘mental health’ and consider more holistic understandings of experiences that honour the connection between mind/body/soul, and that acknowledge social and political context.

In this session we’ll explore the use of herbs to support psycho-emotional health*, especially focusing on considering ‘nervines’; herbs that support rest, relaxation, that soothe, ground, vitalise and nourish. We’ll also be looking at personal constitutions and plant energetics. And we’ll briefly touch on the use of entheogens (psychoactive substances such as magic mushrooms) as medicine.

In this welcoming first session we will look at the basics of using plant medicine – things you might have in your kitchen or easily to hand. We will introduce preparation methods, contraindications, dosages & remedies for common ailments.